"The Cathars, also known as Albigenses (from the twon of Albi, north-east of Toulouse), were a powerful religious sect which flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries, chiefly in southern France and northern Italy... For more than 50 years the Roman Church tolerated Catharism, which first appeared in western Europe about the year 1140. During these years, Catharism spread so rapidly that divisions and differences developed inside the movement itself. But by the turn of the century the Church felt compelled to act... and in 1208 Pope Innocent III declared a Crusade against the Cathars, which led to a merciless war lasting 20 years... The massacre of some 200 Cathars at Montsegur in the Pyrenees in 1244 was a disaster from which the movement never recovered. "

Cathars

Europe

0

0.00%

-

-

1250 C.E.

Crim, Keith (ed.). The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions. San Francisco: Harper Collins (1989). Reprint; originally pub. as Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions, 1981; pg. 20.

"Albigenses: A medieval sect named after the southern French town of Albi; they were also called 'Cathari.' They rejected orthodox Christianity and held the dualist position that all matter is evil. A Crusade began under Innocent III virtually eliminated them by 1250. "

Cathars

France

-

-

-

-

1200 C.E.

Malcom, Noel. Bosnia: A Short History. Washington Square, NY: New York University Press (1994); pg. 28.

"A similar structure developed among the Cathars of southern France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, whose heresy was directly influenced by Bogomil teachings. "

Cathars

France

-

-

-

-

1200 C.E.

Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 326-327.

"Albigensianism. Named for the town of Albi in southern France where it originated in the 11th century, this sect held doctrine that was basically Manichaean; as in many heretical sects, its members railed against the vices and worldliness of the clergy. The church's organized persecutions of them in the 13th century are legendary for their mercenary cruelty. Crusaders were offered the confiscated lands of the heretics, whom they mutilated, tortured, and slaughtered by the thousands. "

Cathars

world

-

-

-

-

1300 C.E.

Walker, Williston. A History of the Christian Church (3rd ed., revised by Robert T. Handy; 1st ed. 1918). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons (1970); pg. 98-99.

"In Manichaeism Christianity had a real rival. Its spread was rapid in the empire, & it absorbed not only many of the followers of Mithraism, but the remnants of Christian-gnostic sects... Its great growth was to be in the 4th & 5th centuries, & its influence was to be felt till the late Middle Ages through sects which were heirs of its teachings, like the Cathari. "

Cathars

world

-

-

-

-

1996

Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 325.

"Heretical sects were usually named after their founders, but around the 12th century heretics began to have generic names such as Cathars, ('the Pure'), Publicans, or Bulgars. Their argument was often as much with the corrupt state of the clergy as with points of doctrine, and they often set up separate religious societies... Although the heresies were generally crushed with great violence, they continued to pop up hundreds of years later in different parts of the world, and many still have strongholds throughout Europe. Here are a few of the major ones... Montanism... Arianism... Manichaeism... Pelagianism... Bogomils... Waldensianism... Albigensianism... Jansenism... "

In 1957 "the Paris Academy of Political and Moral Sciences received some pertinent estimates... Between 1931 and 1951 the number of Muslims in the whole of Africa had risen from 40 million to 80 million in comparison with a Roman Catholic rise from 5 million to 15 million. "

In 1957 "the Paris Academy of Political and Moral Sciences received some pertinent estimates... Between 1931 and 1951 the number of Muslims in the whole of Africa had risen from 40 million to 80 million in comparison with a Roman Catholic rise from 5 million to 15 million. "

"According to some calculations, black Africa will by 57% Christian by the year 2000, and in Africa as a whole, Christians (175 million Catholics, 176 million Protestants) will surpass the 326 million Moslems. "

"Phenomenal gains have been made in the East African countries of Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, an dthe South African Country of Zambia, according to a recent report of their bishops. Between 1949 and 1974 the number of Catholics in the five countries, whose total population now stands at 45 million, rose from just above 2.5 million to 9.93 million--a 290 per cent increase. "

In 1957 "the Paris Academy of Political and Moral Sciences received some pertinent estimates... Of the total Black population estimated at the time as being 130 million in Africa south of the Sahara, 28 million were Muslim, 13 million were Catholic, 4 million were Protestants and 85 million still followed their own indigenous religions, even though some of these traditionalists were nominally Muslim or Christian. "

"Until the 16th century, almost all of Albania was Christian... In the 17th century, the Turks began a policy of Islamization by using, among other methods, economic incentives to convert the population... By the 19th century, Islam became the predominant religion, claiming about 70% of the population while some 20% remained Orthodox and 10% Roman Catholic. These groupings remained stable until the Communist government outlawed religion in 1967... "

"Until the 16th century, almost all of Albania was Christian... In the 17th century, the Turks began a policy of Islamization by using, among other methods, economic incentives to convert the population... By the 19th century, Islam became the predominant religion, claiming about 70% of the population while some 20% remained Orthodox and 10% Roman Catholic. These groupings remained stable until the Communist government outlawed religion in 1967... "

Wright, David K. Albania ( "Enchantment of the World Second Series "). New York: Children's Press (1997); pg. 102.

"Today, despite several decades of atheistic Communist rule, 60% of the people call themselves either Bektashi or Sunni Muslims. More than 25% are Orthodox Christians, while about 15% are Roman Catholic. "

[Total pop.] estimated at 27.4 million in 1993, increasing at an annual rate of 2.8 percent and expected to reach 32.5 million by 2000. Non-Muslim minorities include about 45,000 Roman Catholics, small number of Protestants, and very small Jewish communit

We are always striving to increase the accuracy and usefulness of our website. We are happy to hear from you. Please submit questions, suggestions, comments, corrections, etc. to: webmaster@adherents.com.